1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system for integrating car electronic devices and, more particularly, to a computer system capable of integrating several electronic devices in a car together.
2. Description of the Related Art
A car has several independent electronic devices such as, for example, a car audio system, an anti-theft system, a navigation system, a car diagnosis system, a car backing supplementary system, a mobile phone communication system, and a central air-conditioning system. The car audio system may include a radio, a CD disc player, an environmental equalizer, an amplifier and several speakers. A common car audio system is of the standard Deutsche Industry Normen (DIN) size to ensure compatibility so that it can be installed in any car dashboard.
The safety system usually makes use of various kinds of sensors and micro-controllers arranged on a car to determine activation of safety mechanism. The navigation system has a GPS system and a GPS receiver. The GPS receiver has an antenna to receive signals from a satellite network and obtain the longitude, latitude and altitude of a car. An electronic map is then used to provide positioning and navigational functions for the car.
Because pollution and car mileage problems have gradually accumulated, electronic diagnosis systems (e.g., OBD I and OBD II of U.S.) for analyzing performance of engines, transmission and fuel systems and other components have been installed in high-level cars. In addition to providing pollution and car mileage information, they also utilize instruments to inform drivers of various operation statuses and provide car information for maintenance workers.
The car backing supplementary system can assist a driver in parking the car. At present, it chiefly uses micro-controllers and range finders to detect the distance between the car and rear obstacles, and then provides distance information via sound or light. The mobile communication system is also added to a car so that the driver has voice communication via the hands-free function of mobile phone. A more advanced car mobile phone can further dial or answer a phone by sound control. The central air-conditioning system uses a micro-controller to control the strength of cool air so as to keep an appropriate temperature in the car.
The conventional car contains electronic devices for safety, navigation, communication and multimedia in response to customer demand for increased variety of electronic devices. However, these electronic devices are independent and mutually incompatible. These electronic devices use independent hardware and micro-controllers, and run mutually incompatible special software so that they cannot communicate with each other.
In these self-contained electronic devices, if a user demands several different functions, he needs to purchase different hardware and software modules, and cannot make use of existent devices for software or hardware upgrade. The expansibility is bad, the cost is high, and the volume is bulky.